The Jungle Book and the Search for Self

Dallas Collins

What defines a person? Orphaned at a young age and literally raised by wolves, young Mowgli is forced to ask that question when he discovers that he does not truly fit in with the animals who raised him in the jungle. Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book has been entertaining readers for a long time, not least in its two Disney movie adaptations. Both the animated version and the more recent live-action iteration examine these themes of self and identity, and force Mowgli to take his first steps into a larger world…